Tuesday, January
3, 2017
It was by
faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people
of Israel would leave Egypt. He even
commanded them to take his bones with them when they left. Hebrews 11:22(NLT)
Sometimes what passes for commitment is less than what
the guy wrote on the back of his senior picture before giving it to his
girlfriend:
Dear Alice, I love you more than
life itself, and I promise I would walk through fire for you; I will get the
moon and stars for you if you want them, and I will always be there for you until
eternity passes away. P.S. If we break up I want the ring back.
Winston Churchill, who
certainly had the ability to do a public speech that lasted an hour or more, gave
a graduating class this advice against the backdrop of World War II’s monumental
struggle; he simply stood up and told the graduates:
Never give up; never give up; NEVER
GIVE UP!
And then he sat down.
This is what Joseph did for
his family; take my bones with you,
he said. And the meaning is clear: I have faith in you; you will have the power
of God’s promises at your back and you will leave this place one day to fulfill
the destiny God has laid out in the promise he gave to our family’s head,
Abraham. You can take it to the bank! And carry me with you!
Promises, or vows, are meant
to mean something. The promises my
Mother and Father made to each other at the altar of the little Baptist church
in St Albans, NY in 1943 were still standing in 2009 when Mom passed.
Notable “breakers” of
promises and vows are those who hold public trust loosely, such as Bernie
Madoff (the Ponzi-scheme king), Ron Lay (Enron), Richard Nixon, and countless
promise-breakers in international affairs.
There may be plenty of Never Give Up in all of those
public figures, but the WAY
you go about that kind of exhaustive push for what you want matters at least as
much as that which you want to accomplish.
Every goal you set and reach-for must be measured against the loss or
development of ethical and moral character you must then live with, once you’ve
reached the top (or bottom) of the heap!
For Joseph, moral certitude
and ethical behavior in this life, and being identified with God’s promises in
the next life, crowned his bucket list.
His statement to the family he was leaving behind was: carry
my bones with you alongside your commitment to JHWH.
Joseph, thrown in a pit, sold
into slavery by his brothers, betrayed by friends in prison and in the king’s
service, kept his faith in God, and his integrity as a man of faith. Joseph was a man of the right kind of never-give-up stuff!
For You Today
Whether
this year started with a bang or a whimper, you will have challenges and joys
throughout 2017. It would be a Joseph
kind of year for you to face them all with faith, integrity, and
perseverance.
NOTES
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